Tommy Bishop (lead vocals)
Mick Pearson (guitar/vocals)
Jack ? (piano/tenor sax)
Jeff Lake (tenor sax)
Noel “Bo” Skelton (bass/vocals)
Terry “Tetley” Parkin (drums)
Singer Tommy Bishop, who hailed from Brentwood in Essex, had first come to prominence with Tommy Bishop’s Richochets.
It’s not clear what Bishop did after the group split up in 1966/1967 but it’s possible he put together a new group with guitarists Chris Howlett and Pete Hole, who were behind the recording of the Decca single “Midnight Train”, which was credited the Rock ‘n’ Roll Revival Show.
According to tenor sax player Jeff Lake, who had started his career with west London R&B group Jeff Curtis & The Flames in 1964-1965, another tenor sax player/pianist called Jack, who came from Tottenham, was part of the group and both most likely appeared on the single.
“I first met Tommy when I auditioned for him when he was forming a band to go to Germany,” remembers Lake, who’d recently worked as road manager for Manchester’s Playboys (his friend and another ex-Flames member Malcolm Randall was their sax player).
“That group never got off the ground. A couple of months later I received a telegram from him to join this new band which became The Rock and Roll Revival Show.”
Lake also remembers three musicians from northeast England who were part of the group. These were guitarist Mick Pearson, bass player Noel “Bo” Skelton and drummer Terry “Tetley” Parkin.
However, Parkin says that none of them appeared on the single, which was recorded and released before their arrival.
Parkin, who hailed from north Lincolnshire, joined his first band The Echoes in 1959. The group later worked as The Northern Echoes and sometimes The Sound of The Echoes, including a two-month residency at the Top Ten Club in Hamburg (Ed: The Beatles were playing around the corner at the Star Club at the time).
Later, Parkin played with The Chads, another north Lincolnshire group, which is where he met guitarist Mick Pearson.
In early 1966, Parkin joined Brian Poole’s post-Tremeloes group, The Unity, appearing on the single “The Other Side of the Sky”.
When the group split in early 1968, he answered an advert in Melody Maker and joined Tommy Bishop’s new group who included another guitarist and bass player, both of whom quit after the first gig.
“That was when I suggested that Noel and Mick were available and they joined the band,” he says. “I can’t remember how long the band were together but the highlight was when we toured and supported Bill Haley and the Comets on their UK tour.”
Parkin remembers the group recorded a demo track, possibly for Decca, a Tommy Bishop composition called “Sugar Man”, which wasn’t released.
When the group split up, Parkin later played with The Gordon Jones Soul Band while Skelton returned to The Rumble Band, which later recorded as Rumble.
“Jack, the sax player from Tottenham, later went out as a guitar/vocals solo artist under the name Jack Bodine,” says Parkin. “Sometime after Bill Haley died, Jack sang with the original Comets on UK TV.”
We’d love to hear from anyone who can add any more information.
Huge thanks to Terry “Tetley” Parkin and Jeff Lake for providing further information about the group
Selected gigs:
15 March 1968 – Pink Flamingo, Wardour Street, Soho, London
30 March 1968 – Cottingham Civic Hall, Cottingham, East Riding of Yorkshire with The Big Change
5 April 1968 – Benn Memorial Hall, Rugby, Warwickshire with Pete Kelly’s Solution and Tuxedo Junction Blues Band
9 April 1968 – Klooks Kleek, West Hampstead, London
12 April 1968 – Locarno, Stevenage, Herts
13 April 1968 – Borough Assembly Hall, Aylesbury, Bucks with Candy Bus
14 April 1968 – Bournemouth Pavilion, Bournemouth, Dorset with The Balloons
15 April 1968 – Impsella Club, Chateau Impney, Droitwich, Worcestershire
16 April 1968 – Gala Ballroom, Norwich, Norfolk
18 April 1968 – The Place, Hanley, Staffordshire
19 April 1968 – Ritz, Bournemouth, Dorset
21 April 1968 – Riverside Club, Cricketers Hotel, Chertsey, Surrey
27 April 1968 – Starlight Ballroom, Boston Gliderdrome, Boston, Lincolnshire with Fanny Flicker’s Show and The Cortinas
29 April 1968 – Sheridan Rooms, Nottingham with Bill Haley & The Comets
4 May 1968 – Belfry, Wishaw, near Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands with The Skin Deep (Birmingham Evening Mail)
11 May 1968 – Polytechnic, Little Titchfield Street, London with Karl ‘G’ Big Band
13 May 1968 – Quaintways, Chester, Cheshire with The Hitmakers
18 May 1968 – Gaiety Ballroom, Ramsey, Cambridgeshire with Out of Sight
19 May 1968 – Excel Blue Angel, Middlesbrough
25 May 1968 – Campus, Welwyn Garden City with The Frugal Sound
27 May 1968 – Penny Farthing Club, Leicester
1 June 1968 – Mistrale Club, Beckenham, London with Mr Mo’s Messengers
2 June 1968 – Bournemouth Pavilion, Bournemouth, Dorset with The Palmer James
4 June 1968 – Dudley Zoo, Dudley, West Midlands with Bill Haley & The Comets and Pete Kelly’s Solution
8 June 1968 – Civic Hall, Guildford, Surrey with Pattersons Generation
15 June 1968 – Alex’s Disco, Salisbury, Wiltshire
16 June 1968 – Crown & Cushion, Perry Barr, West Midlands with Jasper Stubbs, Fanny Flickers Rock & Roll Show and Al Copone & Steve Rio
23 June 1968 – Kinema Ballroom, Dunfermline, Scotland with The Falcons and The Shadettes
28 June 1968 – Regal Ballroom, Bonnyrigg, Scotland with Slater’s Street Few and Spider’s Web
29 June 1968 – Cheltenham Spa Lounge and Ballroom, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire with Loopy & Cindy (This may be another band)
12 July 1968 – Swinging Slipper, West Bridgeford, Nottinghamshire
26 July 1968 – Top Spot, Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire with Sound City (This may be another band)
29 July 1968 – Penny Farthing Club, Leicester
